Bobcats point guard Walker's improvement mirrors that of team in 2012-13 season

By Richard Walker

Published: Friday, April 19, 2013 at 05:34 PM.

Dunlap, an assistant at St. John’s during Walker’s last season at Connecticut in 2011, said in training camp he wanted to push Walker to be the player he was when he led the Huskies to the Big East and NCAA titles that season.

Walker clearly responded to the confidence.

As a rookie who missed a full training camp due to the 2011 lockout and spent much of the season as an understudy to eventual free agent departure D.J. Augustin, Walker started 25 of 66 games in the abbreviated 2011-12 season. He averaged 12.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 turnovers per game.

This season, Walker’s numbers improved across the board – to team-highs of 17.7 points and 5.7 assists in addition to 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 turnovers while shooting 42.3 percent (32.2 percent on 3-pointers).

Like Walker, Dunlap understands that tripling your win total from seven to 21 sounds nice, but it’s still a long way away from where the Bobcats want to be in the future.

“I want more wins,” Dunlap said. “I never thought that we were going to blink our eyes and have 35 wins. I thought it was always going to be a slog. But we’re slowly moving this thing around….”

CHARLOTTE – As the Charlotte Bobcats went around the league this season, rival coach after rival coach marveled at the improvement second-year point guard Kemba Walker had made.

Many said Walker was at the top of their team’s scouting report because of his quickness, power and ability to make shots around the basket. Others marveled at how much better his perimeter shooting was over his 36.6 percent shooting (30.5 percent on 3-pointers) as a rookie.

So what does Walker think as the Bobcats tripled their win total from the 2011-12 historically-bad 7-59 season to 21-61 this year?

“I’m just trying to be a great leader for this team and the point guard for this team,” said Walker, who started all 82 games for first-year coach Mike Dunlap. “I think I’m making great strides and I think my teammates are making great strides.

“We didn’t have such a great year as far as wins. But as this year went on, we got better as a team – and we got closer. To me, that’s what it’s about because a lot of us hope to be here for a long time and we plan on building this thing together.”

Certainly, Dunlap shares those sentiments – for himself and his team – after a year in which the Bobcats’ season-ending three-game win streak helped them avoid the league’s worst overall record for a second straight season.

“He’s continuing forward with his development of the three-ball because everybody in the league knows he’s a special penetrator and pick-and-roll guy,” Dunlap said of Walker. “In order to balance that out, he’s not always going to be able to penetrate every defense. So the three-ball has to be his friend at a higher rate.”

Dunlap, an assistant at St. John’s during Walker’s last season at Connecticut in 2011, said in training camp he wanted to push Walker to be the player he was when he led the Huskies to the Big East and NCAA titles that season.

Walker clearly responded to the confidence.

As a rookie who missed a full training camp due to the 2011 lockout and spent much of the season as an understudy to eventual free agent departure D.J. Augustin, Walker started 25 of 66 games in the abbreviated 2011-12 season. He averaged 12.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 turnovers per game.

This season, Walker’s numbers improved across the board – to team-highs of 17.7 points and 5.7 assists in addition to 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 turnovers while shooting 42.3 percent (32.2 percent on 3-pointers).

Like Walker, Dunlap understands that tripling your win total from seven to 21 sounds nice, but it’s still a long way away from where the Bobcats want to be in the future.

“I want more wins,” Dunlap said. “I never thought that we were going to blink our eyes and have 35 wins. I thought it was always going to be a slog. But we’re slowly moving this thing around….”